Some card processing device mounted on a bank's automated teller machine (hereinafter called ATM) processes both a magnetic card on which magnetic information is recorded and an IC card on which magnetic information is not recorded (for example, see JP-A-5-101230 (prior art 1) and Japanese Patent Application No. 3326351 (prior art 2)). When a magnetic card is inserted from the card insertion slot of this card processing device, the magnetic information recorded in the magnetic stripe on the card is read by the magnetic head while the magnetic card is transported by the transport means, such as a motor and rollers, at a constant speed. When an IC card is inserted from the card insertion slot, the IC card is transported by the transport means described above to a predetermined position inside the main body and is stopped there and, after that, the information recorded in the IC chip in the card is read. When the IC card is a contact IC card, the contactor on the device side is brought into contact with the IC terminal of the card to read the information from the IC chip; when the IC card is a non-contact type IC card, the antenna on the card wirelessly communicates with the antenna on the device side to read the information from the IC chip. The card processing device not only reads information but also writes information as necessary. After the read processing or the write processing for the card is finished, the transport means ejects the card out of the device.
On an ATM installed in a bank etc., there is a danger that a fake reader is sometimes put in front of the real card processing device on the ATM to illegally obtain card information on a magnetic card. This fake reader has a memory in which information read from a magnetic card is stored. When the user is not aware of such a fake reader or the user believes that the fake reader is a part of the real card processing device and inserts a magnetic card into the card slot of that fake reader, the information on the magnetic card is read by the fake reader and stored in the memory. On the other hand, the magnetic card inserted into the fake reader is transported to the real card processing device where the proper card reading processing is performed. In this case, the ATM performs normal processing. When the card processing is terminated, the real card processing device ejects the magnetic card and returns it to the user via the card slot of the fake reader. Because the card is returned to the user normally, most users are hardly aware that the card information has been read illegally. In some cases, the card information is read by the fake reader when the card is returned. After that, the person who attached the fake reader removes it from the ATM, reads the illegally-read card information from the memory, and forges a card based this card information.
To prevent the illegal capture of card information such as the one described above, there is a technology to intermittently transport a magnetic card when the magnetic card is exposed outside of the real card processing device at magnetic card insertion time or ejection time (for example, see J. Svigals: “Unauthorized Card Stripe Reading Inhibitor”, IBM TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE BULLETIN, vol. 26, No. 6, Nov. 1, 1983, page 2707 XP002145300, New York. (prior art 3)). There is another technology to randomize the intermittent transport of a magnetic card to make the intermittent transport of a magnetic card more complex and to make it difficult to illegally obtain the card information (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,771 (prior art 4)). There is still another technology to temporarily stop the transport of a magnetic card when a part of the card sticks out of the card slot at a magnetic card take-in time or ejection time (for example, see JP-A-2001-22894 (prior art 5)). In general, the correct reading of the information recorded in the magnetic stripe on a magnetic card requires the constant, continuous movement of a card in relation to the magnetic head. The intermittent transport or temporary stop of a magnetic card as described above makes it impossible to correctly read recorded information from the magnetic stripe, thus preventing a fake reader from obtaining card information illegally.
As described above, some card processing devices process not only magnetic cards but also contact and non-contact IC cards. In such a card processing device, the transport mechanism for transporting a magnetic card and the transport mechanism for transporting an IC card are generally shared. Therefore, the transport mechanism for intermittently transporting a magnetic card as in prior art 3 or prior art 4 or the transport mechanism for temporarily stopping the transport of a card as in prior art 5, if provided, requires that not only a magnetic card but also an IC card be transported intermittently or stopped temporarily. However, the card information in an IC card, which is recorded in an IC chip, is not read by a fake reader and, unlike a magnetic card, there is no need for preventing the card information from being read illegally. Transporting an IC card intermittently in spite of this fact makes the IC card transport time unnecessarily longer than that for transporting the IC continuously. Temporarily stopping the IC card transport makes the IC card transport time still longer.